UPOU was treated to good coffee and knowledge last August 5, 2014 at the CCDL Building, UPOU HQ. The regular Kapihan event, hosted by the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies, featured talks on different technologies that UPOU Faculty and Staff can use for teaching and research.

IBM representative Rhia Trogo gave a lecture on Analytics and Big Data, and how it can be used to enhance education. She talked about IBM products, services, and trainings which can help UPOU harness these technologies. Jay Subido, IBM-Philippines Head of R&D, was also present at the event.

Asst. Prof. Al Francis Librero from the UPOU Faculty of Information Studies was announced 2nd Place winner of the Best Paper award at the recently concluded International Conference on Open and Distance e-Learning. The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Galleria, Pasig City, Philippines last June 18-20.

His winning paper entitled “Benefits and Challenges of Learning in a Virtual World: The UPOU Setting” was based on his research on using the game “Second Life” in teaching Photography to BAMS students.

Gianina Angela Celine Cabanilla and Randolph Mariano received first place for their paper “Social Presence Theory and Implications for Interactive Collaboration Learning in Massive Open Online Course at the American Spaces – Thomas Jefferson Information Center”, while the paper “HiStorya: A Mobile Game for Araling Panlipunan.” by Saturnina Nisperos et. al. received third place.

Other representatives from FICS also presented papers at the said conference.

Faculty and Staff from FICS presented their papers in the recently concluded eLearning Forum Asia held last May 28-30 at the Shangri-la Far Eastern Hotel in Tainan, Taiwan.

The paper "Comparative Analysis of Open Source Platforms for MOOCs" was presented by Asst. Prof. Ria Mae Borromeo and Asst. Prof Roberto Figueroa. Asst. Prof. Joyce Mae Manalo and Asst. Prof. Roberto Jr. Figueroa presented "MOOCathon Codefest: Crowdsourced Planning and Development of a MOOC Platform". The said paper was authored together with Asst. Prof. Diego Silang Maranan who was unable to attend the event. Emely Amoloza and Amalia Perez presented their paper "Developing a Business Model for the Implementation of MOOCs: A Challenge to an Open University".

Hosted by National Cheng Kung University, the conference aims to promote and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience in the application of information technology to student learning.

The Faculty of Information and Communication Studies launches MODeL (Massive Open Distance eLearning). MODeL aims to enhance MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) by using ODeL Quality Framework to fill the gaps.

UP Open University, together with the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and Asian Institute of Management (AIM), launches the eSMP (e Service Management Program). According to UPOU Chancellor Grace Alfonso, eSMP aims to “increase the pool of qualified individuals who are also very much oriented into the culture of the BPM industry to propel further the growth of the industry in the Philippines.”

Under eSMP, courses such as BPM 101 (Fundamentals of BPM) and Business Communication will be offered. The course will be available on the MODeL platform, free of charge for anyone interested, starting July 26.

All UPOU Faculty of Information and Communication Studies Graduates and Alumni are enjoined to attend the FICS Pagpupugay sa mga Magsisipagtapos, a thanksgiving program for graduates. The event will be held on May 2, 2014, 11AM at the UPOU HQ Oblation Hall.